Event: Experiment Marathon at the Serpentine Gallery
An intriguing event at the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park this weekend: an 'Experiment Marathon' to take place on Saturday 13th (12 noon-11 pm) and Sunday 14th (10 am-3 pm). The schedule includes a combination of experiments and talks by multi-disciplinary lineup of speakers including scientists, artists and architects.
The experiments will apparently "explore ideas of time, space and of reality through models, vibrations and perception, investigating [Olafur] Eliasson's assertion that 'What we have in common is that we are different." I am curious about this as there are some forms of performance art that could easily be seen as experiments and this event may further blur the boundaries between experimental science and performance art (what an odd thing to write!)
Comments
I imagine most of these "experiments" will be like those in kids books - i.e. actually demonstrations, not experimental (where you don't know the outcome) at all. So the boundary between it at performance (art or otherwise) won't be that great. But maybe I'm being cynical.
Posted by: alice | October 12, 2007 07:33 PM
No, that's a very good point -- I am a bit skeptical as well about this -- although I think the 'experiment' where you don't know the outcome isn't realistic in this type of event. They would at the very least be repeatable experiments, if not demonstrations.
Not to go too far down this road, but a lot of performance art is more authentically 'experimental' in this sense; performance that has an improvisational aspect or is context-sensitive or dependant on audience participation ends up being unique and unpredictable to a certain degree. (I guess the difference there is that there isn't a scientific point to be tested but some sort of esoteric, intellectual or aesthetic one.)
Posted by: Katherine | October 12, 2007 07:52 PM
I think you have a point about performance art being more 'experimental' in the unknown-outcome sense.
I guess you can't really perform the experimental nature of science in the same way as art, because the outcome is dependent on nature rather than the audience (plus most of the time you get a negative result, which isn't especially spectacular)
I live with an ex-head of the Oxford Uni experimental theatre soc (and philosophy grad) so fear if I were to say this out loud may get a 3 hour lecture...
Posted by: alice | October 13, 2007 12:13 AM
I can relate, my colleagues at collective (gulp) could tell me a thing or two -- actually we co-wrote an article about graphic design and improvisational dance based on a piece we developed a couple of years ago (part of a dance festival in Ottawa that they organised). That pretty much sums up my knowledge of the subject!
Posted by: Katherine | October 13, 2007 09:18 AM
To add something more substantive than my sleepy comment basically reiterating of what you said...
THE paper on science experiments as public event is this:
Shapin, Steven (1984) ‘Pump and Circumstance: Robert Boyle's Literary Technology’, Social Studies of Science, Vol. 14, no. 1: 481 -520.
And the later book Leviathan and the Air Pump.
Of course, they don't consider this in terms of the sorts of modern day spectacular (or kids-orientated, in museum shows, books and at school). That's my next chapter...
Posted by: alice | October 13, 2007 02:46 PM